Remove Cc And Not Take Cover Off?

[gregkeller]

So i'm very new to the whole hot tub thing, and even more new to the dichlor then bleach method. I moved into a new house a few weeks ago, and the prior owner left her master spa slx. My wife and I were not really happy with the PristineBlue that she had been using, so I decided after researching it to go with dichlor then bleach method. I started using dichlor on monday, using test strips to measure chlorine and adjust dosing until my taylor test kit arrived. I got it today, and i'm like a little kid with a chemistry kit. I've got a few issues to work out this weekend as far as water chemistry, my TA is a little high around 120, and my CH is a little low at 50. So i've got to find some calcium increaser, and then once that's set work on getting my TA in line.

Sorry for the long lead in to my question, but with my new test kit finally let me test free and combined chlorine, and I've got a CC level of 1ppm. So when i measured this, i added enough bleach to bring my FC up to 10 ppm. Is that the right level to use? I don't want to shock the pool so much that I can't use it. Also I've read that I should leave my cover off to help "blow off" combined chlorine, but it's freakin cold here in NJ, and I really don't want to leave the cover off my tub unless I'm in it. Is there any other way to help reduce the CC's? Would the CC's blow off while I was soaking in the tub? or am I just adding more stuff. Also i've seen recommendations of leaving the cover off for a half hour would be enough, or do I have to leave it off overnight?

Any help would be appreciated.

[chem geek]

If you used non-chlorine shock (MPS), then that would show up as CC in which case don't worry about it and it should go down in a few days. If you measure CC soon after soaking, say within a few hours of soaking, then CC is normal and should go down before your next soak.

If you didn't use any non-chlorine shock and measured the CC long after any soak (say, the next day before your next soak), then the CC may be leftover junk from the previous owner unless you changed the water and/or did a decontamination. As for how high a chlorine level is needed, a higher level will oxidize remaining CC faster -- there isn't a magic number in spite of the 10x the industry (incorrectly) touts. If you don't notice any bad chlorine smell, then you could just maintain the tub as normal and use it normally and see if the CC declines over time. If it does not, then it probably won't get resolved until the next water change at which point I would strongly recommend doing a decontamination procedure, including using Spa System Flush to be safe. If it doesn't smell, then the CC may be something innocuous like a chlorourea though usually that will go away within a day at hot spa temperatures.

As for airing out the spa, that may only need about an hour so shouldn't cost you that much -- not worse than using the spa. As you noted, even a half-hour is a lot better than nothing.

[chem geek]

Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) or an equivalent activated carbon block will remove both chlorine and chloramines, but with chloramines this will result in ammonia. So if you have chloramines in the water, you'll want to have some sort of ammonia removal system after the carbon, such as using zeolite.

Instead of carbon, you could add a reducing agent, but again the inorganic chloramines will produce ammonia so you'll still need zeolite or equivalent.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Another trick we use here in the cold north east when we need to gas off in cold weather is to use a a few tennis balls under the edge of the cover. This allows the tub to gas off without losing as much heat to the cold winds blowing across the water with a wide open cover. Just turn on the jets and let it go for a cycle.

[waterbear]

I would like to set up a system to condition and age water prior to use in the aquarium. I do not want to use any chemicals. I have an RO system in which I usually mix at a 1:4 ratio with our local tap water. What is the best way to get rid of chlorine and chloramines? Is charcoal the only way? Can you age water for too long?

Standard practice is to 'shock' the water with bleach to break down the chloramines and then add a chlorine/ammonia killer such as Amquel or Amquel Plus to the water. Once the Amqel is added you can use it for the aquarium. I kept reef tanks for many years and treated water this way to mix my saltwater mix. Never even needed RO water even though I has the unit.

However, I am a bit confused why you posted this question in a pool and spa forum instead of an aquarium forum.